Microsoft Vs. Google, Again — Forget about that $44 billion takeover bid for Yahoo. Microsoft's latest assault on Google is slier. — Since May Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) has been reimbursing people up to half of the value of items they buy using its search technology.

Internet Explorer 8 gets a massive makeover — More than two years ago, when Microsoft was in the final stages of testing Internet Explorer 7, Bill Gates promised more frequent browser updates, as often as every 9 to 12 months. And yet today, nearly two years after IE7's release …

F**k the VCs — When I read about Mike Lee's firing from Tapulous, it made me angry. Angry, not because I feel for Mike... he's a big boy and I'm sure he'll be fine. Angry because what we're about to experience in the iPhone world is going to be a bubble along the lines of the one in the late 90s / early 2000s.

iPods, MacBooks, iMacs up next on Apple's 2008 roadmap — With a multinational iPhone 3G launch now successfully under its belt, electronics maker Apple Inc. is preparing to close out the year with a final phase of product introductions that will stretch over the course of the next two months.

Yep, We Redesigned — As many of our readers have noticed (and noted) already, we rolled out a new design for TechCrunch yesterday evening. — We've been watching as the initial feedback has rolled in through Twitter and in the comments to our other posts.

BackType, A Twitter For Comments — BackType is the newest YCombinator startup to launch from their summer program. They're a blog-comment focused startup - founders Christoper Golda and Michael Montano are for the first time aggregating all comments from millions of blogs into a single, searchable, parsable stream.

Microsoft's new “Blue Track” mouse spotted? — We're not really sure if Microsoft is peddling a revolution here or just the mousing tech flavor of the month, but we've got ourselves a much better idea of where things might be going. After that little “Say Goodbye to Laser” …

Making money on YouTube with Content ID — Late last year, we introduced our newest tool for YouTube's content identification and management system, Video ID. While we have long provided copyright owners with similar content policies and tools, Video ID was revolutionary because it provided real choice …

Transcoding Is Not A Crime, Says Court In Veoh Porn Case — Finally, a judge who may have actually visited the Internet once or twice before deciding a case. Judge Howard Lloyd, a judge on the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, threw out adult entertainment company …

Corrupt File Brought Down FAA's Antiquated IT System — The Federal Aviation Administration's flight plan IT network, which went down for about 2.5 hours Aug. 26 and fouled up the takeoff plans of thousands of travelers in more than 40 airports across the country, is back up and running.

More Artists Steer Clear of iTunes — Apple's Online Music Store Sells Lots of Singles, — But Labels Seek Higher Profits of Full Album Sales — ITunes has been the runaway hit of the music business, selling more than five billion song downloads since it started five years ago.

Microsoft, Nikon sign patent-sharing deal — Microsoft and Nikon have signed a cross-licensing deal that gives each company access to the other's patents. — The deal is one of a growing list from Microsoft, which has been seeking to establish the heft and significance of its intellectual property effort.

New Nikon Holds a Secret — If you saw it just sitting there, you'd never guess that the new Nikon D90 is a mind-blowing, game-changing camera. — It looks like any other big, black intermediate single-lens reflex camera: much more compact than a professional model, but much bigger and heavier than a pocket camera.